Bebop Spoken There

Emma Rawicz: "In a couple of years I've gone from being a normal university student to suddenly being on international stages." DownBeat January 2026.

The Things They Say!

This is a good opportunity to say thanks to BSH for their support of the jazz scene in the North East (and beyond) - it's no exaggeration to say that if it wasn't for them many, many fine musicians, bands and projects across a huge cross section of jazz wouldn't be getting reviewed at all, because we're in the "desolate"(!) North. (M & SSBB on F/book 23/12/24)

Postage

18219 (and counting) posts since we started blogging 17 years ago. 73 of them this year alone and, so far this month (Jan. 24), 73

From This Moment On ...

JANUARY 2026

Fri 30: Classic Swing @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Fri 30: Rendezvous Jazz @ The Monkseaton Arms. 1:00pm. Free.
Fri 30: New Orleans Preservation Jazz Band @ The Oxbridge Hotel, Stockton. 1:00pm. £5.00.
Fri 30: Castillo Nuevo Trio @ Hotel Gotham, Newcastle. 5:30pm. Free.
Fri 30: Pete Roth Trio @ Gosforth Civic Theatre, Newcastle. 7:30pm (doors). Feat. Bill Bruford.
Fri 30: Jive Aces @ Alnwick Playhouse. 7:30pm.
Fri 30: Tweed River Jazz Band @ Northern Edge Coffee, Silver St., Berwick. 7:00pm.
Fri 30: Dan Coulthurst Quintet @ Central Bar, Gateshead. 7:30pm (7:00pm doors). £10.00 + £1.00. bf (www.wegottickets.com). Coulthurst (trumpet); Joel Steadman (bass clarinet, flute); Nico Widdowson (piano); Fergus Quill (double bass); Theo Goss (drums).

Sat 31: Darling Dollies @ St George’s Church, Jesmond, Newcastle. 3:00pm. £10.00. Vocal trio.
Sat 31: Brass Fiesta @ Revoluçion de Cuba, Newcastle. 10:30pm. Free.

FEBRUARY 2026

Sun 01: Smokin’ Spitfires @ The Cluny, Newcastle. 12:45pm. £10.00.
Sun 01: Ian Bosworth Quintet @ Chapel, Middlesbrough. 1:00pm. Free. Quintet + guest Bill Watson (trumpet, flugelhorn).
Sun 01: Sax Choir @ The Globe, Newcastle. 2:00pm. Free.
Sun 01: 4B @ The Ticket Office, Whitley Bay. 3:00pm. Free.
Sun 01: Annie & the Caldwells @ The Cluny, Newcastle. 7:30pm (doors). £25.00. adv. Gospel/soul.
Sun 01: Jive Aces @ Alnwick Playhouse. 7:30pm.
Sun 01: Olly Styles Experience + Jenny Baker @ the Globe, Newcastle. 8:00pm.

Mon 02: Harmony Brass @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Mon 02: Saltburn Big Band @ Saltburn House Hotel. 7:00-9:00pm. Free.

Tue 03: Customs House Big Band @ The Masonic Hall, Ferryhill. 7:30pm. Free.
Tue 03: Jam session @ The Black Swan, Newcastle. 7:30pm. Free. House trio: Joe Steels, Paul Grainger, Abbie Finn.

Wed 04: Vieux Carré Jazzmen @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Wed 04: Darlington Big Band @ Darlington & Simpson Rolling Mills Social Club, Darlington. 7:00pm. Free. Rehearsal session (open to the public).
Wed 04: Take it to the Bridge @ The Globe, Newcastle. 7:30pm. Free.

Thu 05: Jazz Appreciation North East @ Brunswick Methodist Church, Newcastle NE1 7BJ. 2:00pm. £5.00. Subject:Times of the Day & Trios.
Thu 05: Jeremy McMurray’s Pocket Jazz Orchestra @ Arc, Stockton. 8:00pm. Special guest Emma Wilson.
Thu 05: Tees Hot Club @ Dorman’s Club, Middlesbrough. 8:30pm.

Reviewers wanted

Whilst BSH attempts to cover as many gigs, festivals and albums as possible, to make the site even more comprehensive we need more 'boots on the ground' to cover the albums seeking review - a large percentage of which never get heard - report on gigs or just to air your views on anything jazz related. Interested? then please get in touch. Contact details are on the blog. Look forward to hearing from you. Lance

Friday, March 29, 2024

Album review: Hannah Horton - Live in Soho

Hannah Horton (tenor/baritone sax); Tim Lapthorn (piano); Rob Statham (electric bass); Nic France (drums).

I must confess this one initially had me confused. Five of the eight tunes were on the saxophonist's previous album Inside Out reviewed HERE in 2021. That studio album had John Crawford on piano, replaced here by Tim Lapthorn, with drums and bass as previous. 

I haven't got the earlier album to hand (I must devise a filing system)* to enable me to compare the studio versions with these live ones recorded in January 2023 at Pizza Express but, going by my review, they must have been excellent whilst these tracks are super-excellent and, being live, extended which is a big plus and, going by the applause, the audience agreed.

Whether blowing tenor or baritone Horton gets a big, walkin' the bar, sound that transcends boundaries with a technique that allows her fingers to trip the light fantastic over the keys of the saxes. From the bottom note of the bari to the top notes of the tenor and beyond they dazzle. Not just technique for technique's sake but meaningful phrases that add significantly to the material even, as she did on Inside Out, making a silk purse out of that musical sow's ear Feed the Birds. 

Of the three tunes new to this album, Gil Evans' Las Vegas Tango has Horton beginning in an explorative, out of tempo, mood before a fiery bari burst which, after Lapthorn's piano solo, mellows out to a gentle and effective vanishing finale.

Chick Corea's Sea Journey features Statham, who, after the calm, sets Horton up for a turbulent tenor solo that does Chick proud.

The third number that doesn't appear on the studio session is her composition Forget Me Not when, once again, she lets the world know that when it comes to baritone sax playing Hannah Horton is very much a name to reckon with.
*Now I'm going to look for Inside Out - one complements the other. No I'm not! You can listen to some of it HERE. Lance

Release date for Live in Soho is April 29.

Feed the Birds; Surfing Thermals; Las Vegas Tango; Keep Walking; Escape; Sea Journey; Forget me Not; Horn Dance

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